Detroit Free Press

I’ve loved HBO’s “Hard Knocks” for a long time. Ever since I started watching the NFL training camp reality series in 2007, when the Kansas City Chiefs were profiled in the show’s third season, it has been appointment TV viewing every August. No matter how tired I’ve been after covering Lions training camp, even after

As a player, Dan Campbell learned joint practices were good for one thing. “You learn how to fight,” Campbell said Monday. “You learned you always get involved, that’s one. And two is you learn you keep your head on a swivel.” As a coach, Campbell’s focus will be on something entirely different when the Detroit

In the same way a veteran pitcher may spend part of spring training working on a certain pitch, there is a trial-and-error component to training camps in the NFL. Detroit Lions receiver Kalif Raymond told me Monday he has used his reps in one-on-one passing drills this summer to work on a few specific routes he

Jeff Okudah got beat for a third-down conversion that set up the Atlanta Falcons’ first touchdown, but Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said he was pleased with Okudah’s play in last week’s preseason opener in his return from a ruptured Achilles tendon. “Listen, he did some good things,” Campbell said Monday. “It was encouraging. We

Several of the Detroit Lions’ injured players will not travel to Indianapolis for this week’s joint practices with the Colts, and Lions coach Dan Campbell said fullback Jason Cabinda might not be ready for the start of the regular season. Cabinda, who opened training camp on the physically unable to perform list, has not practiced this

The most stunning visual in the first episode of “Hard Knocks” wasn’t Aidan Hutchinson dancing to “Billie Jean” or Dan Campbell describing how to take someone’s last breath by submerging them under water in the ocean abyss. In an image captured by NFL FIlms, three years are plastered on the back wall of the team meeting

He was sweaty. Of course, he was sweaty. How could Dan Campbell not be sweaty? He stalks the practice field like a, ahem, lion. He drops for pushups and up-downs and if the NFL allowed him to put a helmet and pads on and jump in the drills, well, who would stop him? But this moment

Devin Funchess lined up wide, where he has long been accustomed to playing before his recent conversion to tight end. Tim Boyle looked at him in the huddle and thought the 6-foot-4 target would have a mismatch. “Tim just said ‘13, come to me,’” Funchess said in the locker room following the Detroit Lions‘ 27-23 loss to the

The most stunning visual in the first episode of “Hard Knocks” wasn’t Aidan Hutchinson dancing to “Billie Jean” or Dan Campbell describing how to take someone’s last breath by submerging them under water in the ocean abyss. In an image captured by NFL FIlms, three years are plastered on the back wall of the team meeting

Two plays. That’s all Aidan Hutchinson needed to bring the crowd at Ford Field to its feet in his first game for the Detroit Lions. It was second-and-2 on the first drive of Hutchinson’s professional career, when he lined up against All-Pro offensive tackle Jake Matthews. The rookie from Michigan football faked right to the outside, swim-moved back

Dan Campbell’s first instinct was to play quarterback Jared Goff on Friday. Campbell planned to give his starters a quarter or so of work in the Detroit Lions’ preseason opener against the Atlanta Falcons, but Goff’s strong play over the past week of training camp had Campbell reconsidering his decision. He talked with his assistants

Three Detroit Lions who helped and hurt their stock in Friday’s 27-23 preseason-opening loss to the Atlanta Falcons at Ford Field: Stock up WR Tom Kennedy With Quintez Cephus and Josh Johnson out with injuries and the Lions pulling their starters early, Kennedy played most of Friday’s final three quarters, an ironman’s worth of snaps for

They say teams show nothing in the NFL preseason, that offenses are vanilla and defenses are maybe even blander than that. Well, the Detroit Lions showed everyone at Ford Field on Friday night that vanilla has some flavor and can be satisfying when you add a few sprinkles. The Lions’ first-team offense didn’t break out

It’s time for football! Follow along for live updates from today’s NFL preseason opener between the Detroit Lions and the Atlanta Falcons. When: 6 p.m. Where: Ford Field. TV: Fox 2 (other TV affiliates across Michigan); NFL Network. Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; other radio affiliates). Game notes: It’s the first of three dress rehearsals for the

If their offensive line plays like it did on the first series Friday, the Detroit Lions offense will be tough to defend this fall. The Lions’ starting line lived up to its preseason hype in its lone series in Friday’s preseason opener against the Atlanta Falcons. Jared Goff led a 10-play, 79-yard touchdown drive, but

Jarrad Davis got a poignant piece of advice from one of his former trainers this offseason. “He said to me, ‘It’s different when you’re at the top of the mountain versus being the wolf climbing the mountain,’” Davis said this week. “And I feel like whenever you’re in that position, when you’re in an adverse

Five players to watch in the Detroit Lions’ preseason opener Friday against the Atlanta Falcons: Aidan Hutchinson Hutchinson looks every bit the player the Lions thought they were getting when they made him the No. 2 overall pick out of Michigan in April. He is a relentless defender who moves all over the line, and the

He smirked when he said it, both as if he was jokingly trying to keep his team’s new-look offense under wraps and as if he was sending a message to critics who have besmirched that part of his game. “No, we don’t do that here,” Goff said Tuesday when asked about the Detroit Lions’ downfield

Aidan Hutchinson’s singing was a big hit in the first episode of “Hard Knocks.” Next up might be Kalil Pimpleton’s juggling. An undrafted rookie out of Central Michigan, Pimpleton is one of several rookies who have joined Hutchinson as performers in the Detroit Lions‘ rookie talent show through the first two weeks of training camp.

The Detroit Lions released their first depth chart of summer Tuesday, a depth chart Dan Campbell called “officially unofficial” in nature. That’s a fair way to put it. Depth charts are typically put together by media relations departments with varying degrees of input from coaches, and the Lions — like most NFL teams — rotate